Month: March 2014

“You don’t know what you have until it’s gone” the saying goes. This is applicable in all aspects of life. Whether it’s your car, your house, your job, even your spouse and children. It also includes our time and our money. The point is that those things that are cherished are also valued, and all things that valued are also stewarded…and stewardship has a cost associated with it.

However, the most overlooked thing that we possess is our rights. Yet it is the least mentioned not only in daily conversation, it is also the most frequently absent from when we gather at church. Why? The answer runs the gamut from, “Separation of Church and State” to “We only talk about Jesus here” to “God’s in control, so I don’t to worry about that.” It is that last statement that is the most troublesome. Why? In order to answer it, must find out the original intent of the Founding Fathers. What did the Founders state in our Declaration of Independence?:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

Those of us who remember “Schoolhouse Rock” remember the first part of this quote. However, it is the rest of the quote that needs to be focused on. “That to securethese rights governments are instituted by men, deriving (or getting) their powers from the consentof the governed.” The document specifically says men, not God are to secure these rights and that any power government receives, it is by our consent, not His sovereign will. This directly speaks of stewardship. Thankfully, the document addresses the other side of the equation also: “That wheneverany Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute newGovernment…” No where does it mention “God’s Will”. That doesn’t mean that God is not sovereign. He can do whatever He chooses to do. However, what He is looking for I believe, is us who bear His image and likeness of His Son, to step up and change our nation so that it will model His kingdom.

This is NOTa call to theocracy. However, it is a call to a Biblical worldview in our government, which addresses the last part of the quote: “Laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” When the Founders said “laying the foundations”, what did they mean? That can be found in the first part of the paragraph: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. This specifically addresses where does your rights come from.

So the stewardship of our rights has a cost associated with it. The next question is who will pay the price? You or those after you?